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About The advocate. (Portland, Or.) 19??-19?? | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1931)
True Storie» Achievement Storie» n /trt r« Ml The 'Advocate MI. IM I«»«» M* N l»t »M It THK ll.LUSTKATKI) KKATURK SKCTION Marc h l*S. 1ÍKU Clean Fiction Human Interj^t Feature» r. ! ■V. Ptrture# )u th Illu strate d fe a t u r e Heetion were po and do not depict p rincip al» uulea« u t eapttwmd When Negroes are Black No M oré ;/j • ‘• B la c k V o M o r e .'* b v G e r f f M d t u u l r y C o ., N r w Whut with the seething vor tex or racial animosity created by Die (orrodlng antipathy be tween the black and white peo ple* of this country, riots would la-tome the bloody rule Instead of the Infrequent ex ception as now. amt It would be as dltltrult to tlnd Interra cial ciaqreiatlon us to elect a Negro governor of Alabama the stable of the axluliie and discredited lletlln. Yet the col orful Imagery that might be pictured by the revolutionary treatment of such a tabooed topic must be apparent to ev en the most unimaginative thinker One person, Ocorge 8. Schuyler who happens to be through his experience, sin gularly equIpiK-d to handle the Immensely complicated ramifications of such a grad ual chromatic change, hns -ccn the teeming possibilities of a racially UUtfMlUfUbl* mass of Americans and has accordingly constructed one ot the most readable lind brll llant pieces of fiction based on the race problem that haa ap peared In the Inst few years. One has to Ire more or less conversant with national In terracial developments within recent years, and also wl h the characteristic qualities of the various schools of leadership among Negroes but more than this nn specialised knowledge Is necessary In order to grasp the full slgnineance of 'B lack No More.'1 A* In rrudmg any author, the book must be read sympathetically, and tf the render has a sense of humor lie will tlnd 2.10 tinges of un equaled hearty, rich, xatlrlrnt comedy It was Inevitable that at some time, some keen minded author, some virile, courageous writer would take advantage of the virgin .satirical poten tialities of the tragl-comic enigma called the race prob lem Mr. Schuyler demon strates sntt.- fnctortly too that the interracial situation In America Viewed In Its entirety Is Just ns much a huge comedy. —tut hilarious farce as it Is a tragic injustice. - **niWe can be no doubt that to treat the race problem with severity and yet retain the full clarity of lIuHight and method needed to handle properly the Issues Involved, an Independent nnd detached point ot view must be tnken Hurh an Ideal istic point of view Is difficult to tlnd among white nr black authors White writers un likely to find themselves vic tims ot I ill ie r a very . m i I>(I< condescending or patronising attitude or a frankly Inimical nnd prejudiced attitude to ward the black race. Negro writers Indulge the opposite extreme Either spcc- Th« Have You Ever Imagined the Politi cal, Social and Economic Effect» of the Discovery of a Serum that Turned Negroes Indistinguishably White? “ B l a c k No M o r e , ” a Startling New Book by America’s “ Only Negro Satirist,” Ventures a Hilarious and Amazing Answer to This Question. Ju«t Like Swift’» Gulliver and France’» Penguin Inland, George S. Schuyler’s “ Black No More” Creates Pande- moniunt a» it Viciously Attacks the Most Sensitive and Vulnerable Ideas About a Notoriously Misunderstood Problem. lf' Nojfioi'st were chromatically hut gradually chnngt'd into tin* superior appearance and super ficial hauteur of tln> everage so-called pure Nordic type, the political, .social and economic effects of Much n change would undoubtedly be tumultuous. S. S c h u v !? r . Y o r k , S '!.O J T h e Il lti H lr a lft l F r ; t l u r r S e c t i o n i r l K f , c o n c e p t i o n o f th e Im m n iftrly c o m p lic a te d m a c h in e r y lirfp s s a rji to work iiilru« u I ouh c h a n c e f r o m M.»ck t o w h i l e , t.uch a » wan d e s c r i b e d bv t h e a u t h o r In " B l a c k No M o r e . ” Mr. tieorgr S. hrllllanl writer mini powrrtal porary life nn Schuyler. The latest picture of the whose pen has made hint one -tf the and authoritative figures In contem the Amrrlran Interracial situation ini supplications for their own group or vio lent, direct condemna tion of the white raía la the sole content of thrlr literary efforts The r e s u l t Is the works of Negro authors are concerned o n l y w i t h presenting the wretched condition of an outragrd and oppressed race In the mos t Impassioned manner. They fall altogether to extend tlielr Interests to matters of more universal con cern: and rather. In the In stant case of the American problem .hey full tq conscien tiously observe the 'shortcom- Ings of the black as well as the white side of the rather in distinct racial line. It Is with glorious realization that one observes In Black No More" n brilliant work Iree of all special pleading and of all r a c i a l sensitiveness. Mr Schuyler, although very much Interested In the progress tJT the Negro race as a group tn this country (see hts weekly column tn the Pittsburgh Courier and syllabus of the new organization- the Young Negroes Cooperative League*, nnd although he has many times been subjected to the multifarious petty Insults of race prejudice, has managed to run the whole nefarious ga mut without becoming a vic tim of the miseries and the psychological handicaps of an Inferiority complex. He writes with the unbiased abandon of nn artist who imtnts only whnt he sees, and constructs hts story as would a stranger who chanced upon a humorous nnd Ironical turn of fate. The sweeping, desolating satire of "Black No More"- Is conceived In a most original plot. Dr. .funius Crookman discovers a serum which In stantaneously turns Negroes white. The blackest and most confirmed Aframerlcans are So changed ns to have the ldealtsttc skin and hair of their white brothers. Max Disher, nn obviously colored brother, straightway becomes one of the first beneficiaries of the Crook map discovery Max Disher then becomes Matthew Fisher. As Max Disher he was a c tuated by a more or less se crct passion for a Southern white girl who rebuffed him in a Harlem Black and Tan cabaret, when she informed him that she never danced "with niggers'.'' But Matthew Fisher Intends to conquer, and he quickly realizes that a quick and decisive treatment from the newly discovered Crook- man method will erase what appeared to be the greatest objection of the fair Southern Confederate and thereby place him nearer the achievement of his heart s and body's de sire. It Is not long before many other Negroes are Black No More. No doubt catering to the cosmic urge. Fisher's quest for the elusive and haughty Nordic belle ends tn Atlanta. Georgia. Hr finds her and finally marries her. a f ter an alliance with her father who Is the leading promoter of the Knights of Nordtcn, a rabidly anti-Negro organisa tion. Fisher, by nature a pre hensile Individual, soon finds ample Held far hts desires and talents by becoming the guid ing genius of the Knights of Nordlca. In this capacity h* seeks to put on end to the Crookman process In as much as there must be some Negroes Continued on Page Tv. a